The Last Vacation

by Noble Thought

Vacation's End: Drawing on New Roots

The door to Sunset’s bedroom stood open, as did the window.

Those were the first things she noted on coming to herself from the depths of a dreamless sleep. Someone must have opened them, she mused. She wondered, as she folded back the long sheet, if it had been Rainbow or Twilight who had tucked it under her chin and turned back the heavier, stifling comforter.

A light and cooling breeze drifted back and forth across her nose, and shadows danced across her face. Morning, then. But late morning, she saw, gauging the shadows and light spilling across the bed, heating one side of her, leaving her face in cool, soothing shadow.

A slight creak of metal on metal made her aware with sudden clarity of the girl sitting in her desk chair at the foot of her bed, facing away from her.

Twilight’s hair was bound in a tight ponytail, and she twitched it back and forth against her cheek while her attention was focused on the desktop, her face in half profile against the backdrop of Canterlot Wondercolts memorabilia plastered on the wall above.

Why is she up here? The obvious answer, that they were keeping watch over her, burbled up from her subconscious as her left arm reminded her it was injured. She pushed herself up on one elbow to watch as Twilight lifted a pennant to peek at the poster underneath, then tapped the end of her pen on another for the upcoming Spring Fling, with the date circled in red.

Is she looking for my old trophy pictures?

They had gone into the trash months ago. She watched as Twilight considered a photo of Sunset and her five friends at the last Winter Formal, a replacement for first dance photo, with its triumphant sneer and gloating eyes. The new one was just as professional, just as well lit, but the smile on her face in it… It was real, and she could still recall the feeling of being together with them when it had been taken.

None of them had had dates, and none of them had cared, sharing dances with each other or with a group, or any who asked, but committing to no one partner the entire night. Sunset smiled, remembering the dance she’d shared with Rainbow, each of them trying to lead, getting fed up with each other, and huffing off… Then they laughed it off tried again half an hour later—to the same results.

She stifled a giggle and let her hazy memory drift through the other memories of a slow dance with Fluttershy, light as a feather on her feet and responsive to Sunset’s lead, and not at all shy about being held close by another girl.

Fluttershy had shared three with Rainbow Dash afterwards, including a more energetic dance from a bygone era. She had thought Fluttershy’s blush would never leave, but the girl had thrown herself into the rump-shaking dance with as much energy as her partner and had seemed to enjoy it.

Twilight tilted her head, obscuring the photo as she looked up to study another taken during the end of the Battle of the Bands, the seven of them still in costume and posed with their instruments, except for Twilight standing with the microphone clutched in her hands. She twitched the tail of hair against her cheek and flipped a page. It wasn’t long before the scratching of pen on paper interrupted the near silence of the room.

Sunset pushed herself up in bed to get a peek around Twilight, but couldn’t make out more than the leather-bound edge of the cover.

That journal had been almost a part of Twilight for as long as Sunset had known her. She didn’t favor any of her other notebooks, just the one rumple-paged, well-thumbed book. She always closed it whenever anyone else was around, but never let it leave her sight or her bag. She wasn’t very good at hiding what must have been in it. She fingered it whenever she asked about magic, or Equestria, or anything to do with their friends.

“Twilight?”

The ponytail twitched more violently, but the scratching didn’t cease.

That’s just like her…

Sunset smiled as she took stock of herself, touching her bottom lip where she could feel a rigid line running along it where Twilight had socked her, trying to catch her. The flesh around it must have been purpling, and it throbbed when she touched it, but not near as bad as the throbbing in her left wrist. She couldn’t even twitch her fingers without a sharp stab radiating up her arm. The splint was still in place, but some of the cloth had rolled up to expose the metal clasp rasping at the inside of her elbow.

But she was awake, and her mind felt as if it were unclouded for the first time. Even the birds singing outside in the early spring morning sounded lyrical instead of annoying.

Sunset dragged herself out of bed, letting her feet hit the wood hard enough to thunk, and flapping the sheets away, and thankful she’d gone to bed wearing everything she’d put on the night before. Still, Twilight didn’t shift her attention. Also not unusual, she thought.

“Twilight?” She asked again, and settled her hand on her friend’s shoulder.

Twilight jerked upright, snapping the journal closed, and swiveled around. “Sunset! Don’t scare me like that!”

“I called your name, goofus,” Sunset said with a chuckle.

“Oh. Well…” Twilight drew a deep breath, let it out in a sigh, and dropped her hands to her lap, drumming the pen in a rapid tattoo against her thigh, took another deep breath and stilled herself. “Did you sleep well?”

“Yep. Remind me to knock myself out the next time I need a good night's rest.” She jabbed a finger at the tough ridge on her lip, and laughed at Twilight’s horrified expression. “No, no. Joking, I swear.”

“That wasn’t funny!”

“I know. Sorry.” Sunset scrubbed at her face, trying to erase the smile she could keep away, no matter how she prodded at her bruised lip. “So… what were you writing in there that was so engrossing?”

Twilight’s pen resumed tapping against her thigh, until it sounded like an insane woodpecker, then stopped. “I was writing out… and drawing what our pony selves looked like.” Twilight flushed scarlet, but turned back, hesitated with her hand on the cover, and motioned Sunset closer. “I-I’ll show you.”

She came, settling a hand on Twilight’s shoulder as she stood beside her. Up close, Sunset could tell she had showered not too long ago, her hair as straight and vibrant as ever, but hanging in limp clumps over her shoulders and down her back. Under her palm, Sunset felt the hard line of a bra strap, and let her thumb follow it as far back as Twilight’s shoulder blade.

Twilight jerked forward and rolled her shoulder away with a sharp laugh, shaking her head. “What are you doing? I’m ticklish there.”

“Sorry… Still waking up, I think.”

She rolled her shoulder again, straightening, and turned back to the book. “So… I’ve kept this journal since before…” Her fingers twiddled over the cover as she took a breath. “Since before you and Other Me proved rather conclusively that magic is real.”

As she brushed aside a damp lock of Twilight’s hair so she didn’t tug on it leaning in closer, the scent of her favorite shampoo wafted up from the damp tangle: apples and strawberries, mixed with something else she couldn’t define.

She filed the smell away as Twilight Sparkle, and wanted to sink into it, to pull the lock of hair up to bury her nose in and store away the perfume in her memory. She blinked away the sensation of drifting, as if in a dream, and realized she had been stroking the tangle of hair and Twilight’s neck. Twilight had not looked up, though, and leaned into the touch.

She forced her hand to be still, and forced herself to focus on the first page.

Twilight glanced up at her, meeting her eyes. “I’ve color-coded the corner of each page. Blue is diagrams, green is experimental notes, yellow is… speculation, and red… Red is personal.” The next page she turned to, past the middle, was marked with a red corner and a date a few months ago.

I don’t know where else to turn, Sunset read silently. Mom and dad think I’m lying to them, Shining can’t even talk to me about the case, because he’s been forbidden to access anything regarding the case. All he knows is drips and drops, the same rumors everyone at school keeps repeating. I’m afraid to go to school. Everyone has been playing the videos non-stop whenever I’m around, teasing me and taunting me, calling me a vandal, and miscreant. I don’t even know how to defend myself. There’s video footage of me, in a dress I’ve never seen, with wings that look real, with pony ears. It’s my face. It’s my voice. I can’t even tell it’s not me.

Before she could finish the passage, Twilight flipped through the book, back and forth, past blue and green and yellow so fast Sunset couldn’t make out more than an impression of ordered lines of text and neat, precise diagrams of… something.

She stopped again on a red, the date not far from the first. The lettering was less precise, the lines wavered up and down. I got kicked off the Academic Decathlon team today. They said my scores and response times during the trial events was too low, but I know it’s because of the investigation, and the videos. I’ve never been kicked off of anything before. I shouted at them. I can’t remember what I said, now, but whatever it was, not even Bit will talk to me.

Below the short paragraph, a photo was taped to the page, of a much younger Twilight Sparkle standing beneath a National Academic Decathlon banner beside an older version of herself with paler skin and hair, but the same haircut. On her other side stood a gentleman in a checkered cardigan and tie, glasses settled at a slight skew on his face, his dark blue hair combed back over skin the same shade. Below it, in neat lettering, was Mom, Me, Dad. National Decathlon, fourth grade.

“We didn’t win. Moondancer missed her last question. I tried to talk to her after the meet, but she and her parents were already gone, and I never saw her again. I think she moved away. At least… that’s what Cady told me, later,” Twilight said. “And I never made it to the nationals again.” She touched the words above the picture. “I lied, here. I know what I said. I knew it when I said it, and I wanted to hurt them. I think I only made them angry.”

“Twilight…” Sunset bent to press her chin against her friend’s head, and hugged her about the shoulders. “You don’t have to show me.”

“I do. This was me… before. Before my life got…” Twilight drew a hand up to rub at her face, shaking her head. “It just got all… turned upside down.”

“Shh.” Sunset pulled her closer, easing her wrapped forearm over the other. “Show me something happier.”

Twilight nodded, one hand reaching up to clutch at Sunset’s right hand.

The pages went by more quickly, not lingering long enough for Sunset to read anything more than a sentence or two, and she could make even less sense out of the diagrams and formulae drifting by, giving way to pages and pages of Twilight’s precise hand. The photographs were almost all old memories, with Twilight sometimes appearing even younger, but always with at least one member of her family.

She spied a picture of a very young Twilight laying down beside a scrabble board filled with a great sprawl of complex words spreading out from the center. This younger Twilight’s smile was bright and toothsome, and tucked close to her chin, she held a scorecard reading: Twilight: 460, Cadance: 359.

On the other side of the scrabble board, her hand extending up to the viewpoint, was an older girl with pink, gold, and purple-streaked hair. She had her tongue stuck out, her free hand making ears above Twilight’s straight hair. ‘Cadance and I,’ the caption read, ‘Aged ten and sixteen.’

“This was seven years ago… and the first time I beat her. She was so proud of her loss that she had a copy framed. It’s still in her house.” She smiled as she stroked the picture’s edges. “Cadance never doubted me. She was always a bright spot in my life. She even gave me this photo, when I was at my lowest, and we played Scrabble again, not talking or thinking about… the investigation.

“I loved her.” Twilight looked up at Sunset, and tapped the image again. “That day… That was the day I realized I was in love with her, when she relished my victory over her loss. I didn’t know that’s what it was it until two days ago… but looking back, I knew then… Afterwards, it felt like her smiles made my day brighter, and her hugs were precious gifts. I puppy-dogged after her, and she never turned me aside. I think she knew.” Twilight’s face fell. “And she married my brother.”

Before Sunset could say anything in response, Twilight was turning pages again, more slowly as they reached the middle of the journal.

A page drifted past, empty of everything but a short paragraph and a single photo dominating the center. Shining Armor and Cadance stood in front of an altar while a priestess held her hands at chest level, her mouth open in the middle of offering benediction. At Cadance’s side, Twilight stood in a blue dress hemmed with tiny white flowers, her feet almost hidden underneath, and wrapped in a thong sandal. Behind Twilight, a passel of younger girls stood with empty flower baskets, the floor at their feet strewn with petals and stems.

“She loved you, too,” Sunset said, reaching out, then pulling back as Twilight flipped passed.

“I know. But, it hurt,” Twilight said, her voice hoarse. She turned back to the page, and when Sunset looked up, there were tears in her friend’s eyes. “But, I couldn’t not smile. Cadance was so happy, and so was my brother, and I loved—love—them both.” The date scribbled on the margin of the picture was close to two years ago.

“Twilight… I said happier.”

“I am happier, now.” She nodded at the photo, her voice hoarse. “I knew it for a long time, Sunny. She wouldn’t ever love me like I loved her. I think that made it easier. She’s still a big part of my life, and that makes it easier, too.”

With a smile up at Sunset, she turned the page, and kept turning, but slower. Sunset watched a slow flicker of red and yellow-marked pages pass, most filled with Twilight’s handwriting and little else.

When she stopped again, it was at a page filled with precise lettering and marked with a red corner. At the top was a row of six miniature portraits in profile, each done in fine lines and shaded with pencil, one for each of them except Twilight herself.

“You’re pretty good.” Sunset rubbed at her nose as she studied her profile on the page, then reached out to touch the lines defining her nose, offering a smile. “Captured me really well.”

“It’s your hair.” Twilight pushed Sunset’s finger to trace over the wild tangle on the page, her voice gone soft. “I love your hair. It took a long time to get it just right.”

“Really? Not my nose?”

“It’s a proud nose.” Twilight hefted the book, her finger resting beside Sunset’s portrait, then reaching out to touch the tip of her nose. “See? It makes you distinctly you.”

Sunset glanced at the picture, then at the words below, twitching her nose, smiling when Twilight did.

I still don’t understand this magic. Can I trust them enough to bring them home and show them my machine? I need to understand it. I know it’s important, and I like them. I do. And Sunset’s taught me so much about it. Maybe her? I could show her my machine, and my theories. She might just laugh at them. I don’t know anything about magic, or how it works, and she used to be

The text trailed off into an uncertain scrawl, continuing on the next line.

I haven’t told her what I suspect, yet, but I think she guesses more than she lets on. But I feel something now, when I’m with them. I can’t define it, and whenever I think of them, or being around them, my machine chatters at me. I’ve never seen readings like this. Does she feel it, too? I’m afraid to even ask. What if she laughs at me? I feel happy. I don’t want to lose that.

She lifted her eyes from the page to find Twilight studying her, neck twisted so she leaned away, her nose less than a foot from Sunset’s cheek, her lips less than an inch farther away. She could almost see Twilight do the math, too, measuring her progress by the flush rising up her neck.

“I wouldn’t laugh at you. I…” Her own laugh at Twilight’s horrified expression bubbled up in her mind. “I mean, um. I wouldn’t…” She jerked upright, paced back to her bed, and kicked the footboard. “Sorry.” She sat down on the edge of her bed, flopping back onto it, and regretted it as her injured left wrist screamed protest up her arm.

She sucked in a breath and closed her eyes until the pain subsided, thankful all she saw was the haze of a bright day trying to shine through.

---

Some time later, a hand patted her knee as a weight settled onto the bed on her right side.

“Sunset?”

“Hmm?” Opening her eyes, Sunset found the shadows had lengthened somewhat, and her alarm read one o’clock.

Twilight was sitting on the edge of the bed, one leg crooked so her knee rested against Sunset’s hip, one hand resting still against Sunset’s knee, the other balancing the journal in place atop the curve of her knee. Her bare knee, Sunset realized, as her aching fingers brushed against it. She was wearing shorts.

She pulled the hand back.

Twilight nodded, as if to herself, and stretched out her hand to touch Sunset’s cheek, then her aching lip. “You still look tired, but I don’t think you should sleep too much.” She withdrew, fingering the journal resting on her lap. “We can discuss this later. I-I really should show you the experimental notes, and the readouts from the machine… but I wanted to show you one more thing I’ve been working on. I was working on it when you first woke up, but I didn’t know what you would think of it.”

“You don’t have to show me,” Sunset whispered, surprised to find her voice scratchy. She cleared her throat.

“I want to.” Twilight opened the journal again and flipped a few pages past the middle. Six portraits of six ponies stood in different poses on each page she flipped past, their features at once familiar and alien to Sunset’s eyes. Twilight Sparkle was among them, captured laying on what appeared to be a cloud, a book open across her forelegs. “I’m trying to finish these before the memory of them fades too far. I had no idea I… she… She’s a pony. I’m not sure I understood, not really, until I saw her last night.”

Four of the drawings were still in the first stages of sketching, no more than suggestions of a body and legs, and nothing but their faces possessing any amount of detail. Rainbow Dash stood out as an outline with strong lines marking her body and face, her wings spread wide, and a confused look furrowing her brow.

The clearest was the one of Princess Twilight, her eyes looking directly at the artist, while a faint purse to her lips may have been the start of a word, or simply a sign of confusion. Her wings, too, were done in enough detail to make it obvious to her: Twilight had actually seen the Princess. The plumage on the alicorn’s wings was as rich and full of fluff as Celestia’s, if less broad, the flight feathers shorter, and with a shallower incline to the delicate bones where they rose from her shoulders.

“Twi… wow.” She reached out to touch the page, her fingers staying clear of the clean lines. “You can really draw. She’s beautiful.” She looked up when Twilight made a noncommittal noise. “It’s surprising. That… you can draw so well.” She almost slapped herself in the face.

Twilight shrugged. “I learned because practicing made it easier to draw graphs more accurately, and model the atomic structure of molecules more precisely. But I can’t do imaginary. It’s not real. I can’t… I can’t.” She shook her head, pulling the journal closer, then pushing it towards Sunset again. “Does it look like her?”

“You know, it does. I never got a really good, long look at her when I stole her crown, but…” Sunset hesitated, looking at her hand against the page, and the hooves crossed one over the other against the cloud, and her fingers curled of their own accord into the closest approximation to a hoof she could manage. “Yep. That’s her.” She tucked her hand under her thigh, pushing away the memories threatening to overwhelm her. She could indulge later.

Twilight’s blush crept higher. She folded the journal closed and held it against her chest. “You really are a pony, aren’t you. With hooves and a muzzle, and a tail. You’re not a human with pony ears. I wasn’t sure what you meant by pony when you told me. I mean… the videos showed… and all we get are ears and wings and..." She flicked her ponytail. "When we, er, transform.”

“I was. Four legs, unicorn horn, tail. Hooves. Does it bother you?”

“It’s weird.” Twilight pulled Sunset’s hand free, curling her own fingers to match the hoof-like curl of fingers Sunset had tried to hide. “But, no. It’s also who you are.”

With a nod and a sigh, Sunset dragged herself up with a helpful boost from Twilight, and rubbed at her wrist under the splint.

It itched enough to make her wonder if Dr. Hooves—Soft Hooves, remember? she thought, recalling the scowl whenever she called her Dr. Hooves—would be at the vet clinic later, and if she could beg treatment. Then, she remembered Soft had taken her daughter to Los Pegasus for a convention of some sort. She pushed the itch and anticipation of visiting with Derpy’s mother again aside—something about the older woman soothed her. Maybe it was her way with horses…

“I also wanted to give this to you.” Twilight held out the journal in both hands, interrupting her reverie. “I want to know what you think. Of everything.”

“About magic?”

When Twilight pursed her lips and shoved it at her, she reached out to take it.

“I’ll stay away from the red marked pages,” Sunset whispered. “Unless you want me to read them?”

“I trust you.”

The simple words ached in Sunset’s heart, and she took firm hold of the journal in both hands, not caring when her left hand complained fiercely at the exertion.

Twilight let go of the rumple-paged journal and drew her arms back over her chest, as though hugging herself, her eyes never leaving the leather cover until she spoke again. “I’m scared, Sunset, and you know more about this than I do. And with… what happened last night, I think it’s important I understand it, too.”

“Last night. You mean when you harnessed the Elements to wake me up? Seems like an overpowered use of them, but nothing scary.” She tried to make her voice light, but she had felt the twisting and the reach, too, the change followed after, and the lightness she tried for instead came out feeling like mockery. She grimaced. “Sorry.”

“It wasn’t just waking you up, Sunny. When I touched you… I felt something. It felt… slimy.” Twilight looked away, rubbing her hand against her shorts as if trying to brush away filth. “Like… something was wrapped around you.”

“I-it was probably just me being unconscious. I was there. I heard everything you said, like an… out of body-in body experience. I was so afraid it was a dream.” She swallowed the memory of the void clinging to her. It settled in her gut like a sour apple. “It was probably just my fear.”

“Maybe.” Twilight nodded and stood up abruptly, pacing back and forth in the short amount of space between the bookshelf and the opposite wall. “Maybe, but it was more than waking you up. I think it was bigger than the seven of us. Much bigger. I felt something change when I reached out. I have no idea what it was, and I’m hoping that, with your help, we can figure it out.”

“I know less than you think…” Sunset splayed her fingers against the journal, curling them into an imaginary hoof again, and opened to the first page. “I know Equestrian magic, and the magic here is not the same. Believe me, I’ve tried. Not even so much as a twisted spoon.”

“But you still know more than I do…” She glanced down at the open page, then up at Sunset as she paced by. “Maybe together we can figure something out?”

Twilight’s steps quickened, her hands searching for pockets in her shorts, and then folding across her chest. She stopped at the window and sat on the sill.

Sunset watched her for a moment, then opened the journal to the first page, marked with yellow, filled with a theory and the meticulous, detailed notes on how to prove or disprove it. The next page continued the notes, including several diagrams, and the pages beyond it were filled with piecemeal schematics for a machine.

She held up the journal. “What’s this?”

Twilight glanced at it, her cheeks flushed. “It’s a magitometer. It measures magical energy. I-I think. It measures something I can’t account for otherwise. I built it after… well, after Princess Twilight came and left me in an odd position.” Twilight chuckled, rolling her head back against the window frame. “I haven’t told you how badly both of you messed up my life plans. I had everything planned out. Everything.”

“Come on, no one plans everything.”

Twilight shook her head. “I was going to be a theoretical physicist, and my thesis was going to be on Extra-dimensional Superspatial Anomalies, or what you and I would call magic. And then I was… And she went and…” Twilight threw a hand out in a spastic jerk. “And you have no idea what kind of trouble I got into after she left.”

“That was my fault.” Sunset mumbled as she flipped back and forth, trying to see how the pieces would fit together. “Sorry.”

Sunset looked up when Twilight didn’t answer. She was sitting on the windowsill, silent as her hand rested in a pool of sunlight making her skin glow with vital warmth. Rainbow had been right, she mused with a wry grin, Twilight was beautiful to her, and her heart ached to see the bleak, lost expression stealing some of her vitality away. She wondered if Twilight ever dreamt of what her life might have been like, and if she was trying to remember what those dreams were like.

“I’m sorry,” Sunset repeated. “I know what it’s like to lose a dream.” For an instant, a flash of a life she might have had dazzled her as it had in the torrent of rainbow light. It faded as swiftly as it had come, leaving her to blink away sudden tears. She dashed them away before Twilight could see, and forced a smile.

“It’s… okay.” Twilight flashed her a blooming smile. “It really is, you know. I’m glad you got me in trouble.”

“A dream lost is still a dream lost,” Sunset said. “Sorry.” Stop saying that.

Twilight waved away the apology. “I wouldn’t have met any of you if you hadn’t, and I would’ve gone on my boring way through life, probably ending up a laughingstock in my field for trying to prove fantasy wasn’t so fantastic. I’m happier than I think I would have been without any of you in my life.”

Uncertain of what to say, Sunset turned back to the journal. Several pages went by as she let her fingers drift over the drawings, losing herself in connecting part A to B to C, and forming the shape of it in her mind. It was crude, she thought, but some of it appeared to be from various and sundry parts one might find around the house, impressive. If it works.

Sunset glanced up from studying the drawings to catch Twilight jerking her eyes away to focus on a discoloration on the shoulder of her blouse, poking it with a finger. “We have a washer and dryer if you need to do some laundry.”

Twilight jumped, snatching her hand back to her lap. “N-no. It’s okay. I haven’t… um. I haven’t had a chance to, um…” She plucked at a wet strand of hair from her shoulder. “I mean, I have clean clothes. I mean, I have had a chance. I just… I’ve been sitting up here, keeping an eye on you.”

Interesting. Sunset stifled a laugh at Twilight’s stumbling words, masking it with a rub against her bruised lip. “Admit it, you just wanted to watch me sleep.”

Twilight’s fingers tapped out a fitful cadence against the enameled buckle securing the belt around her waist, and refused to meet her eyes. “I was not! I was… working on the drawings I showed you. It’s quiet up here. And, besides, Rainbow asked me to watch over you.“

She did? Sunset couldn’t keep her mouth from dropping open, and turned it into a stretch and yawn. “You didn’t need to watch over me,” Sunset said, fighting off a real yawn sneaking up on her a moment later. “I really was sleeping okay.”

Twilight shook her head, opened her mouth to say more, and closed it again. She looked out the window, trailing a hand over the screen. “She wanted me to watch over you just in case,” she said finally. “She told me she hadn’t slept well and needed to clear her head. She also said you hadn't, either. We were both worried about you.” The look she gave Sunset asked, but did not beg, to be let in.

Would you make her beg, and fight for every scrap? Sunset shook her head, weariness at holding her friends at arm’s length settling around her thoughts, and it was suddenly more tiring to keep it in than it was to let it spill out.

“I couldn't fall asleep, at first. I didn't want to fall asleep and wake up to be alone again. When I was awake, I could still feel you were close.” She cleared her throat. “She came up to make sure I was doing okay.”

Twilight gave her an odd, flat look. “And?”

“And we talked…” Keeping back the rest, she allowed herself to add: “About you.” Twilight’s raised eyebrow asked for more, but Sunset shook her head. “I fell asleep, and slept better.” Sunset raised an eyebrow. “Did she say anything else?

Before answering, Twilight looked outside and waved. “Just that she was going to go for a run.” Twilight glanced aside at Sunset’s clock. “That was quite a run. She left two hours ago.”

“She probably had a lot to think about,” Sunset whispered. “I know I do.”

“Hmm?” Twilight looked up again from the window. “What was that?”

“Thinking aloud…” She waved it away.

The front door opened and closed with a slam, the storm door clacking shut a second later. Rainbow’s voice drifted up through the open door. “I’m back!”

"We'll be down in a sec." Sunset called back, and followed the sound of Rainbow’s heavy tread through the house to the kitchen, heard the fridge open and close. The couch creaked and then the TV came on.

“I guess she’s thirsty.” Sunset grinned, imagining Rainbow’s sweaty face as she sucked down a bottle of water and she she could almost hear the glug-glug-glug.

A few moments later, Rainbow’s voice called up from downstairs, louder. “Hey, uh… Do either of you know anything about a giant tree getting planted at school overnight?”

Sunset shared a glance with Twilight, but all she could do was shrug and try to ignore the prickle crawling up her spine. “Not me.”

---

“What you’re seeing is an aerial view of Canterlot High,” a dour and dry man’s voice said. “Where last year, an illegal fireworks display caused significant damage to the campus.”

Fireworks? Are they still saying that? Sunset scrubbed at her brow as she tromped down the stairs, shooting Rainbow a glance, but the other girl’s eyes were glued to the TV.

Over the news anchor’s shoulder floated the image of a silvery tree, its tendriled vines filled with delicate leaves shimmering in the noonday sun, dazzling the camera as often as allowing itself to be the center of attention. Rainbows danced around the tree, flickering across the ground and everything else in sight. She got the distinct impression the tree reveled in the sunlight as its leaves danced and spun in the wash from the helicopter.

As the view drifted, she saw the Canterlot Colt rearing up from its pedestal near the base of the tree, the silvered finish of the portal unmarred.

“Our News One chopper is on the scene. Hot Scoop, what can you tell us about what we’re seeing?”

“It looks like the CHS prankster corps has done it again,” a woman’s voice said, bright and happy, as though announcing it were the highlight of her day. “No digital effects for this one. You can see police cruisers parked along the street, and the barricade around the tree they’ve set up. The tree is sitting in the exact place where the explosion last year did so much damage. But no ergot induced hallucinations this time, Hard Line, what you’re seeing is live footage with no special effects added.”

“Ergot? Really?” Sunset rolled her eyes as she settled down on the couch next to Rainbow. “I can’t believe they’re still using something so stupid as their standard ‘This makes no sense’ excuse. We didn’t even use that in Equestria, and we eat almost exclusively grain.” She snorted, arranging her left arm on her lap.

Twilight muted the TV, but the closed captioning continued to scroll by underneath. “That… tree is from Equestria, isn’t it?”

Sunset shrugged. “If it’s not, I’ll be very, very surprised.” She shot Twilight a glance. “Is this what you meant by ‘something more’ you felt change, because… um… That’s a heck of a lot more than I thought you meant.”

Rainbow frowned, keeping her attention on the TV, but Sunset saw her right hand clench tight over the edge of the couch cushion.

Sunset heard again Rainbow’s confession of jealousy, and laid a hand lightly over her friend’s, attempting to will apology into the touch.

Whether it worked or not, Rainbow shook herself and smiled at Sunset, mouthing, ‘I’m trying.’

Sunset nodded, shifting the hand to Rainbow’s knee, offering a smile in return, and mouthing, ‘Thank you.’

Twilight shook her head slightly, watching them. “You two had a ‘moment’ last night, didn’t you?”

“Male bonding ritual.” Rainbow chuckled. “Now for girls!”

“Ah. You’re both weird.” Twilight quirked an eyebrow, frowning at each of them in turn, and turned back to the TV, but Sunset saw the flush rising in her cheeks.

She tried to get Rainbow’s attention inconspicuously with a touch against her knee, then a jab to her ribs. When she had the other girl’s attention again, she mouthed, ‘We should back off.’

Rainbow nodded silently and leaned back, crossing her arms under her breasts and staring at the TV as the tree in the center view drifted lazily as the helicopter swung around.

The closed captioning below read, ‘Hot Scoop: As you can see, there are five glass or crystal symbols embedded in the branches, with a sixth at the top of the trunk. You can’t see it from this angle, but there is a seventh on the opposite side of the trunk from the sixth, and burnished into the base, which looks like some kind of steel or silvered glass, are the public symbols of the Principal and Vice Principal of the school.’

‘Hard Line: We’ve received word from a source wishing to remain anonymous that the seven symbols in the branches and upper trunk are registered to students there at CHS. Is there any sign of students on campus?’ Somehow, his dry tone seemed to bleed into the text.

‘Hot Scoop: It’s Spring Break for the school this week, and the only people at the school are staff. We’ve seen some of them already coming out to look at the tree, and even take pictures in front of it.’

Sunset stared at the image of the tree. Seven symbols. She knew what six of them were already, and all she had to do was look at her friends to see them on display. She didn’t need to see the seventh to know she would find its mirror on most of her clothes, a desperate clinging to what had been the most precious part of her identity, and she almost itched at her hip. But, she stayed still, watching as the news coverage unfolded into more banal conjecture and back-and-forthing between the two reporters.

The silence continued until Vice Principal Luna’s name scrolled across the closed captioning, and her still image appeared next to ‘Calling in…’

“Unmute it!” Rainbow snapped.

Twilight fumbled for the controls, and Luna’s steady contralto filled the room, her words precise, and tone even.

“…an art project by our artistically skilled students. I regret they chose to assemble their project without informing me they were going to do so, but I cannot fault them for their enthusiasm. It’s a sign of how proud they are of their school that they would spend so much time over Spring Break continuing to work on it. It is also quite encouraging to see they’re such fans of the Rainbooms, CHS’s own Battle of the Bands winner.”

The video cut back to the male reporter, a visible frown on his face, quickly smoothed away. “What have you to say about the symbols on the trunk?”

“It’s flattering, of course, and I believe it shows just how strong the spirit of togetherness and harmony is here at CHS.”

“So, you’re saying this isn’t the work of pranksters?”

“Of course it’s not. I approved of this project, but hadn’t expected to see finished before the end of Spring Break. An oversight on my part, and I will be talking with our young artists about the proper time and place for enthusiasm. This is merely the work of enthusiastic, artistic students.”

“So you’re saying you approved of this already, and approved the specific addition of your personal symbols?” Sunset didn’t miss the note of skepticism in the man’s voice, or the way he smiled as though he thought he had her trapped. “It’s no secret that CHS has not been doing as well in the last year on a financial scale, and our sources on the school board indicate they are looking very closely into some of the school’s recent expenditures.”

Twilight shot to her feet. “How could he possibly think Vice Principal Luna would—would—” She jabbed a finger at the television.

“Shh.” Sunset waved a hand at her and pulled her back down, grinning. “This should be good. Just wait.”

“All artistic projects and other endeavors are encouraged without regard for the source of them and without consideration for personal favor. All of the costs for such events are raised through fundraisers, drives, and donations. We do not spend taxpayer money on student-driven events such as this, except where such expenditure has been approved by the board.”

Luna did not raise her voice at all, but each syllable came through as sharp and precise as a shard of ice, and as inexorable and unstoppable as an avalanche. The anchorman was trying to get a word in edgewise, but failed. Sunset relished the purple tint to his features and the tendon visibly pulsing on the side of his neck.

“At CHS, we encourage free expression and do what we can to help the development of the talents our students possess, and encourage and assist them in any way we can to organize a drive or fundraiser for any project they wish. You may recall how much we do, Mr. Line, as I seem to recall you were a student here at one time, were you not? In fact, I seem to recall—” Luna’s voice cut off, and a deep breath came through the TV, and when she spoke again, her voice was calmer, but no less cold. “This call is over, Hard Line. I’m not a little girl to be bullied anymore, and I’ll not stand for it, nor descend to your level.”

A loud click signaled the end of the call.

The man sitting at the anchor desk smiled at the camera, his complexion slowly returning to its normal light blue. Finally, he said, “Nice speaking to you, Vice Principal Luna. We’ll be back with more coverage after a word from our sponsors.”

Before the screen cut to a commercial, he was throwing down papers and striding off screen, his smile turned to a scowl. “She hasn’t changed…!” The rest of his tirade faded off into a commercial for the Flim & Flam Pawn shop.

Sunset chuckled. “She’s more frightening when she’s got that stare fixed on you. It’s her presence in that dark office of hers.” She didn’t need to fake her shiver. “She’s terrifying when her voice gets calm and she glares at you. I was happy I only got detention for two months.”

“Two months of detention? I thought it was…” Twilight stared at her for a long moment, one eyebrow raised. “There’s a lot you all haven’t told me.”

Sunset nodded, turning away. “There is some that’s… it’s just not…” The weeks after, the dreams turned to nightmares when she woke—for their loss, rather than their content, the guilt at what she had almost done… “Later.”

Twilight stretched an arm over Rainbow to lay a hand against Sunset’s shoulder. “Take your time.”

She nodded, and was about to sit back when her phone jangled, the caller ID showing the last name she wanted to talk to right then. She sighed, flipping open the phone, and buried her face in her hand. “Hey, Vice Principal Luna. I, uh, I want to say, before you say anything… It’s not my fault. Honest. I have an alibi.”

From the other end of the line, Sunset heard a door slam closed, its echo booming in a small space.

“I know it is not, Sunset Shimmer. No alibi is necessary.” A pause as the sound of blinds snapping shut came sharply over the phone. The door opened and closed again, more softly, before Luna continued. “Please, for this call, I am not a vice principal, or anyone in authority. I am only Luna.” There was a longer pause as a chair creaked. “I… I need to ask for your help. I would not do so otherwise or ask any student to do something of this nature, but I believe you are the only person who has history with, and working knowledge of, where I suspect this tree has come from, and the lie I just told on live television may not last out the week. Please, I need your help.”

“You think it came from Equestria,” Sunset said, giving Rainbow and Twilight a significant raise of both eyebrows.

“Indeed, and I am afraid of what its appearance means.”

Sunset covered the microphone with her hand. “I think vacation is over.”

Author's Note:

Or is it...?

Yeah, it is.

But not all the way over. This story is done, but work continues apace on the following story.

Comments

[Minds Eye]

Complete! Grats, Noble! It was a long journey for Twi, but I was happy to help with it.

[Noble Thought]

6319421

Thank you! It was good to have you along the entire way, too. I don't think I would have made it this far this fast without your help.

[Vic Fontaine]

6319421 I second this! Congrats on crafting another wonderful tale!

Thank you also for letting me pitch in a bit at the end. :) And kudos to the other folks who helped you out - they clearly brought their A games as well. :)

[Jlargent]

Obligatory Musical Reference GO!

[NebulaNyx]

Well considering this story is finished and how much I loved it, I guess you just earned a follow from me.

[CommisarSilver]

Nicely done! I didn't expect the tree to turn up haha. Eager to see where you take it.

[Noble Thought]

6319478

Thank you! And thank you again for the help!
6319527
Hmm. Interesting song. I can't say I've seen much of the first movie, but I do remember some of it. I like it.

6319973
Wow. Thank you, NebulaNyx. That means a lot to hear, and I'm glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for the follow, too.

6320761

Me, too! Well, sorta. I mean, I know where it ends, but the journey... that's still in the works. But It's gonna be a good one, I hope.

Thank you, too, for the follow!

[ratedoni]

6321188 The soundrack of the first Pokemon Movie is gold, I remember buying the CD and finding that it has some really good songs, check it out, you might like some of them.

[Noble Thought]

6322109

Indeed. I kinda see it as the same thing in the EG world. Twilight has her eyes focused on academia, and Rainbow on sports, and the best academic colleges are not generally on the same lists as the best sports colleges. That was why I brought up Twilight's worry about it early on. It felt like something she would worry about. Her plans are getting readjusted as she goes, and she's trying to account for variables.

6322413
I think I'm gonna watch that movie again soon... good bit of nostalgia there.

[Filraen]

That was a nice chapter, as usual. Good to see some backstory on Twilight, Luna being in control of media and acknowledging Sunset as who most knows about magic. Normally this would be enough to be a great chapter, but to be honest this chapter is missing something very important. Something that in any other chapter it wouldn't be important, but you already know this isn't any other chapter.

You failed to provide an ending.

I understand there's the whole story isn't finished but I don't feel closure on the topics the fic raised: and it's a bit of a trend I feel it happened, by design or whatever the story seem to raise questions and then discard them without giving an answer[1]. And worse, you're raising more plot points like the harmony tree at CHS[2]. By the way: no, an attempt for a witty one liner doesn't give closure.

[1] The future of Rarity's mansion comes to mind. You may claim the focus switched away from the others left by there, but then again it's you who writes the story and decides where its focus goes.

[2] I'm not against giving an incentive for a potential continuation (because as the time of this writing there isn't any continuation yet) but when combined with the lack of closure I mentioned it merely cheapens the effort.

Edit/Note: When I wrote this this fanfic was marked complete with this being the final chapter.

[Noble Thought]

6327861

That's actually something I've been thinking about for the past few days and for weeks before I wrote the final chapters: how to tie up the plot threads for the ending.

And you're right, there is a lot left untied, and it wasn't until recently that I figured out how best to accomplish that. In the last day or two actually, after taking my mind off the story for a while.

Look for an epilogue in the next week or so.

I'm chalking this up to inexperience. This is the first long form story I've written with a sequel in mind during most of the writing of it.

[ColdGoldLazarus]

Aw yeah.

Pretty decent sequel hook, too. I'm looking forward to it!